The Next Line Universe
by Fanfic-Reader-88
Summary: Features the stories "What Happens After The Next Line" and "All Grown Up And Still In Love With You". Contains André/Jade (Jandré). Also featured in "The Fanfic-Reader-88 Oneshot Collection".
1. What Happens After The Next Line

**"Ahhhh... I really wish that I could write the next line." Well, maybe I can. But seriously, if you saw the title, the summary, and the beginning of this author's note, then you most likely know where this is going. But if for some reason you don't know, then here it goes. This story here is inspired by "Jade Gets Crushed", particularly the immediate aftermath of that episode, and what might have happened had Jade found out about André's feelings directly from André himself. Now, as far as actually writing this story goes, just like "So Wrong But Still So Right" (the crossover story I posted this past Monday), I'm winging it. But unlike "So Wrong...", the idea behind this has been in my head for quite some time, so this should turn out to be a way better fic. But anyway, without further ado, here is "What Happens After The Next Line". Enjoy.**

**Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon own _Victorious. _**

**(Parking Lot/Asphalt Café at Hollywood Arts High School; Hollywood, Los Angeles, California; Friday October 7, 2011)**

_"...I'll try 365 Days, 365 ways to get to you."_

As the song ended and applause came from the crowd - which consisted mainly of their classmates and teachers, André Harris and Tori Vega had embraced after performing "365 Days", a song that the pair had recorded for André's advanced songwriting class. The pair performing together, particularly on stage, was nothing new, as it had been done quite a few times since they first helped Tori's older sister Trina with "Make It Shine" - the very same song that Tori herself ended up singing that, long story short, allowed her to join her older sibling and the dreadlocked musician at Hollywood Arts nearly two years ago.

But what made this situation unique was that "365 Days" wasn't just any old song. Actually, this song was a practical confession of love for one Jade West: best friend to André, frenemy to Tori, and girlfriend to Beck Oliver. Working on the song and eventually performing it was hard enough, considering that the reason behind it was André's newfound infatuation with the Gothic-styled girl, which oddly enough came about because Jade was originally the one who was supposed to record a song with the singer-songwriter. But for André, the immediate aftermath of the performance was difficult when he was left stunned and speechless after sharing a hug with the young woman who, as he and many others understood, was usually engulfed in a cold-as-ice but hot-like-fire disposition.

Tori was very well aware of André's crush on Jade, which had at one point even led to her dressing like the dark, brooding teen in an effort to snap him out of it, which at the time seemed like it had failed miserably, especially when André had felt the urge to kiss Tori because her imitation of Jade had not only reminded him of the real thing, but had also apparently left him at least somewhat aroused. So when she talked to André after she saw him break away from Jade after their hug, she was justifiably concerned about his mental and emotional state now that he had been in such close proximity with her.

_"Jade hugged you," Tori reminded in a seemingly worried tone._

_"Yeah, she did," André answered in a somewhat similar voice._

_"So, you okay now? You wonky?" _

_"I'm not sure, it might take me a little while before I know if I -"_

Just as André was about to finish his answer, an attractive brunette girl had walked over towards the pair, although her focus was clearly on him and not on Tori. The song, and possibly also André himself, had appealed greatly to the young woman, so it didn't seem surprising when she happily approached him to join her for the rest of the night.

_"Oh my gosh, André. That song was so hot," the girl said excitedly._

_"Yeah?" André responded._

_"Yeah. Wanna go hang?" The young woman's tone was now flirtatious and somewhat seductive._

_"I could hang."_

With that, André began walking off with his new female companion. But before he totally left away from his friends, and the school for the evening, he walked back over to Tori and jokingly asked _"Jade who?" _before walking away for good. Understanding that André didn't have any malicious or hurtful intent behind his comment, Tori laughed and smiled, partly because she was happy to see her friend in such a great mood and with somebody who was not only truly interested in him, but also available. But more importantly, she was happy because André had gotten over his wonk... or so it seemed.

**(Asphalt Café at Hollywood Arts, Monday October 10, 2011)**

It was now lunchtime on the first day of school after the concert, and on the surface, everything appeared to be business as usual for all of the students at Hollywood Arts, especially for the popular "sixsome" who, with the exception of Tori, had been tight over the past three or four years. But within the group, something was off, way off. Tori knew it, Jade knew it, and Beck and Robbie may have even been aware of it. There was a possibility that Cat knew something was up too, but given the redhead's childlike personality and general lack of intelligence, both of which had become even more consistent lately, it was highly doubtful.

After the ditzy teen finished yet another crazy tale about her brother's wild mishaps, the half-Latina pop-star hopeful, who had been picked up on André's gloomier-than-usual mood, had made an attempt to get the usually upbeat teen to open up about his somber state.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Tori asked André in a concerned manner.

"Yeah, sure. Everything's cool," André said. His tone and even his half-hearted smile would have made it seem as if he was telling the truth to an outsider, but his friends, or at least the two young women that may have considered each other rivals, weren't buying it.

"Are you sure? Because you've been really quiet today."

"Yeah, Vega has a point," Jade added in a worried tone, which was rare coming from her. "Normally, you're all upbeat and generally happy. But today, you just seem really out of it."

"Did something bad happen between you and the girl you left with on Friday night?" Beck asked, remembering the brunette who flocked over to André after his and Tori's performance. Robbie was practically ready to ask the same question, but Beck basically beat him to the punch.

"No, man. Nothing bad happened between us," André responded, who was feeling both irritated by the constant questioning coming from his friends, and stressed and panicky at the thought of what might happen if everybody, particularly Jade and Beck, knew about his feelings for her.

"Then what's the problem?" Robbie asked.

"Yeah, man. Are you getting wonky again?" Rex added.

"Look, just because I'm not all happy-go-skippy today, it doesn't mean that something's wrong, alright?" André said, still feeling somewhat irritated. As he finished the last of his burger and fries, he then continued by saying, "I'm alright, I'm fine, so there's no reason to get all panicked and ask a bunch of questions."

Luckily for him, lunch was almost over, and while he was gonna see his friends again in a matter of minutes, there was some time between then and their class with Sikowitz, so he would have some sort of break from their interrogation, even if it was all too brief.

Just as other students started leaving the Asphalt Café to head back inside of the school, André got up from the table and followed suit, leaving Tori, Jade, Beck and Robbie stunned by his sudden departure. For Cat, however, this seemed like a perfect time for her to tell yet another wild tale about her brother.

"One time, my brother ate a whole jar of peanut butter, and when he finished, he found 10 dollars inside, and he was all happy-go-skippy," Cat said happily.

Rather than try to figure out why Cat's brother had even attempted to eat a whole jar of peanut butter at once, much less why he actually did it, or why there was 10 bucks inside, the gang went back into the school along with the rest of the students, with Cat having bounced in since she had yet again worn her Jupiter Boots to school.

Once inside, Tori, Beck, Robbie and Cat headed for Sikowitz's classroom, but Jade went looking for André, because deep down, she was worried about her friend's demeanor throughout the day. Decked out in her usual all-black attire with the exception of a short-sleeved camouflage-green T-shirt, Jade looked around the main hallway of the school, until she had seen the musician, who had a royal/light blue Hollywood Arts hoodie and a matching T-shirt and pair of sneakers with black jeans, standing at his keyboard-customized locker. Just as Jade was about to approach André, she unknowingly ran into Trina, which didn't sit well at all with the wannabe diva.

"Would it kill you to watch where you're going?" Trina grumbled angrily.

"No, but next time, if _you_ don't watch where _you're_ going, then I might kill _you_," Jade said in the same tone.

The ego-tripped brunette, who was wearing a gray T-shirt with the words "Wanna Dance?", blue jeans and a pair of black-and-white Converses, bumped shoulders with the Goth as she walked away, but not before having one last bitter exchange of words.

"Evil grunch."

"Talentless bitch."

Once the brief name-calling session had ended, Jade returned her focus back to her original plan, which was to find André and figure out what was behind his less-than-stellar mood. Getting his attention wouldn't be so difficult, since, as it turned out, he had saw the end of the short but bitter discussion between her and Trina.

"What was that all about between you and Trina?" André asked, confused by the sudden argument and generally concerned about his friend.

"Don't worry about that. That's over with. But me and you, we need to talk," Jade responded seriously.

"But we gotta get to Sikowitz's class."

"And we will, but we're gonna be a little late."

"Come on, Jade. What's so important for us to talk about that we're more or less ditching class?" Although he had been harboring feelings for Jade for nearly the past week, the only person that he had expressed that to was Tori, and he trusted her enough to assume that she hadn't said anything about it to Jade or anyone else. So he could at least act like this conversation was happening out of the blue, even if for him, this was a situation where "it was gonna happen eventually."

"For one thing, we're not ditching class, we're just gonna be late. Besides, for all we know, this might be one of those days where Sikowitz is the one who's late, and in this case, later than we are." The last part made some sense to André, having remembered that their teacher had showed up to class 10 minutes late one day last week, having been depressed over the breakup with his girlfriend. "But more importantly, we have to talk because aside from the concert on Friday night, ever since that night that we recorded the song, you've been acting weird. And I normally don't say this, but I'm worried about you. You're one of my best friends, and it's bugging me that you've been acting like this. If something is wrong, you should tell somebody."

"Look, I appreciate that you're concerned about me and my issues, and you're right, there is something wrong. But it's really, really personal, and it's way too hard to talk about it. I tried talking about it with Tori, and I thought that it worked, but apparently, it didn't. So it's probably just better if I left it alone."

Just as André was about to walk away and go to class, Jade gently grabbed onto his shoulder just as he passed Tori's locker before standing in front of him. Had this been any other day with any other person, even Beck or Cat, Jade would have just pulled them by their hands, dragged them into the janitor's closet without any real thought and forced them to spill their guts. But today was different, the situation was different, and most of all, this was André that she was dealing with, so she understood that in order to get him to talk, it would require a little finesse, sympathy and tenderness - words that weren't usually associated with Jade West.

Now standing face-to-face with André, and lightly gripping his arms, Jade then said, "okay, listen. Maybe it is hard to talk about, but I know you, and you usually don't hide things from people, so why would you hide this?"

"Jade, look. I appreciate you trying to help, but I don't think you get how hard this is to talk about -"

"If anybody knows what it's like to have something that's hard to talk about, then it would be me. It's pretty much one of my things. Why else do you think I don't have deep conversations about anything?"

"Because you hate talking about your problems... Better yet, you don't really like talking to people in general."

"Okay, that's another part of it. But seriously, André. I walk around with enough anger, frustration and unhappiness for everybody in this school, and that might work for me, but it doesn't help you. You're a great guy, and a lot of that has to do with how easygoing you are. If you hold this in, then it'll eventually lead to you holding other things inside, and if you do that, then... you could end up like me, and you shouldn't be that way. You deserve better than that for yourself. So can you just talk to me? Please?"

If nothing else had convinced André to listen to Jade's advice, then her sad tone of voice and the fact that she took his hands into hers just before she finished talking definitely had to be the selling point to get him to verbally bare his soul in the next few minutes. Still nervous, skeptical and concerned about what might happen if he listened to Jade, but also aware of what likely would happen if he didn't - both because of what she said and what she didn't say, he followed Jade into the janitor's closet, where many other crucial conversations between the group had taken place in the past, and mentally braced himself for any possible outcome that resulted in him confessing his feelings to her.

Once they made it inside the janitor's closet, André made his way towards the back near the toolbox, while Jade simply remained by the door. Knowing the magnitude of the conversation that was about to take place, he realized that he had to make sure that their friendship would remain intact, regardless of how it turned out.

"Listen, like I said a few seconds ago, what we're about to discuss, it's really personal, and it's been bugging the hell out of me, because it's a really big deal, and it doesn't just affect me. I need to know right now that if I tell you everything, you won't be mad or upset after I let you know what's going on."

"Well, I can't make any promises, but if you tell me the truth, and I mean _the whole truth, _then I might not be so harsh on you," Jade said, uttering the last part in a seemingly joking manner. "Now spill it, Harris."

Taking a deep breath before putting his hands in his pockets as he stood against the toolbox, André began the long, definitely mentally and emotionally painful, and possibly physically painful process of confessing his feelings for Jade.

"Okay, so this whole thing started last week when I started working on the song for my advanced songwriting class," André began. "I initially asked Tori to help, and obviously, that's what happened anyway, since we performed it at the concert last Friday night."

"Yeah, I know that. I was meaning to ask you, why didn't you just keep working with Tori anyway?"

"Because she had to prepare for the tech theater exam. That's why she had been spending so much time with Robbie, because he was helping her out. But anyway, I couldn't ask Cat to sing because she's been too busy bouncing around in those Jupiter Boots to focus on anything. I swear, that girl's been turning into a little kid lately."

"Oh yeah, she has," Jade said in agreement with André's last point. "But anyway, what about the song?"

"Yeah, so Tori had to prepare for her exam, Cat was too worried about 'being bouncy' with her Jupiter Boots, and obviously, there was no way in hell that I was asking Trina to sing. So you were my best option left at that point."

"I'm your best option anyway, but go on." Jade and André both laughed at her bragging attempt at humor. However, that ended quickly, as she waited for him to continue on with the story.

"So later on, when the time came for us to start working on the song, and Beck came by the studio, we had talked for a quick second, and I was actually nervous about the whole thing."

"Why? What was there for you to be nervous about?"

"Well, when Beck came by and asked if you were there, I... I might have told him that you scare me."

"I scare you?" Jade asked, feeling shocked and confused.

"You scare everybody!" André replied. Normally, hearing that kind of thing would make Jade grin from ear to ear, but now, in the presence of one of her oldest friends, the revelation had stunned her, and to a degree, it had even saddened her. "But anyway, I was already scared to begin with, and it didn't help that when you finally showed up, you were threatening to kill Sinjin because he had sat on your scissors."

"Well, I couldn't help it. When Sinjin sat on them, they lost their 'sciss'," Jade replied.

"Well, seeing as how you threw them at the wall and they actually went through the 'instrument use is a privilege' sign, I'm not sure how true that actually was."

As André finished that statement, Jade shot him a glare that seemed to say, "don't try to argue with me about my scissors," before actually saying, "well, you seemed okay once we started to work on the song, so I can't be that scary."

"We were working hard on the song, so I couldn't really think about being scared," André said. "And you were actually being nice for a change, so that helped too."

"Well, believe it or not, even I can be nice... sometimes." The pair again began to laugh, before Jade quickly got back to the subject. "But seriously, that still doesn't explain why you've been acting so weird lately."

"Well... aside from not being able to think of a chorus, there wasn't any real issue. In fact, once you did the whole hand trick thing, that's kind of where everything started. Then when you sung that part from 'Okay', I was finished."

"What do you mean?"

"Once we left here and went home, I couldn't sleep, because I... I couldn't stop thinking about you." As André said this, Jade's eyes had practically shot open. If he didn't have her attention before, which was highly doubtful, then he definitely had it now. "I mean, it even got to the point where I rode my bike to the Vegas' place at 3 in the morning because of that."

"Okay, I get that you said that you couldn't sleep because you were thinking about me, but what about me could have possessed you to go talk to Vega at 3AM?" Jade asked, somewhat amused. "I mean, I know I might have the capability to keep people up at night, but it can't be so bad that it causes them to wake other people up from their sleep. So what gives, Harris?"

"What gives is that when I went to talk to Tori at 3AM the other night, it was because I had to tell her that I'm in love with you! Don't kill me!" André exclaimed in a panicked tone.

The usually witty, sharp-tongued Goth was now stunned and speechless. It usually took a miracle to make Jade West either one of those things, and now in one sentence, André had managed to do both. But rather than feeling angry, upset or even feeling the need to ask him if he was crazy, Jade simply tried to process the shocking confession her friend had just made.

"So... you're in love with me?" Jade asked as she walked closer to André, resting her right hand on his left shoulder as the usually upbeat teen now had a hard time even looking her in her face.

"Yeah, I... I am. And if I'm not in love, then I might seriously have the strongest crush ever known to mankind. It's driving me nuts," André answered.

"Being in love with me is driving you nuts?"

"No, Jade, the simple fact that I'm in love with you isn't what's driving me nuts," André began. "You aren't the problem. I mean, you're smart, beautiful, you're talented. You're strong, you're honest - brutally honest, but you're still honest. And even though you usually act mean, I know that deep down, you're really sweet when you let yourself be that way. I've known it for years, but I really saw it come to light last week when we worked on the song together."

Jade briefly smiled at André's compliments, but it faded away quickly when she asked, "so if I'm not the problem, then what, or who is?"

"You and Beck have been two of my best friends for years. He's like the brother I don't have, and with me even thinking about you romantically, let alone being in love with you, it's like I'm stabbing him in the back a thousand times over, and I feel like shit because of it."

Understanding André's dilemma, but wanting to know more about how his love for, or crush on her had come about, Jade then asked him, "so what did Tori say when you talked to her about it?"

"After a while, she eventually told me that everything I was feeling was just because it was late, and because me and you had been working on the song almost the whole night, and that I was tired and overemotional about it. She thought that if I went back home and slept it off, then I would be fine by the morning. So I listened to her because it sounded like good advice."

"But it wasn't."

"Not really," André answered. "In fact, my feelings had only intensified when I got back home. Not only did I stay up the whole night, but then I started working on '365 Days'. I thought I was gonna be over everything once I got to school, but as it turned out, I was still wonky. That's one reason why I couldn't play the song when you and Beck came by Tori's locker."

"So what was the other reason?"

"'365 Days' was about you."

"That song was about me?" Jade asked, stunned at the latest piece of information.

"It was about you, for you, however you wanna put it, that's how it is," André said. "All the times I said 'baby' in the song when we performed it on Friday, it was a replacement for your name."

"You had to change it so that neither one of us would find out."

"Yeah, basically. I don't think it would have worked out well if I was up on stage openly serenading another guy's girlfriend, especially since said guy and girlfriend are my best friends."

Having nodded her head in agreement, but also wondering how he managed to convince Tori to join him onstage, Jade then asked André, "how did you get Vega to sing the song with you if she knew what it was about?"

"Well, believe it or not, Tori actually came up with the idea to sing it at the concert. She even asked if she could sing with me," André began. "It actually came up when I went back to her place the same day that I told you that I would e-mail you the song."

"So what happened this time?"

"See, she had sent me a text asking me to come over to her house. Then, once she finally came down after I got there, she had actually tried to imitate you, and - "

"She did what?" Jade asked in a stern tone.

"She tried to imitate you. It was like a role-playing exercise, basically," André continued.

"Okay, what the hell was she doing by trying to imitate me?"

"Wait, wait, wait. There wasn't anything bad about it, or at least it wasn't meant to be. See, Tori thought that if she dressed like you and acted like you, it would show me that it wasn't a good idea for me to be in love with you, and that would help me to get over my crush."

"Apparently, that didn't do anything to help you either."

"Nope. Even with her yelling and trying to insult me, it didn't make me give up my crush," André started. "In fact, at one point, I had even tried to kiss her because it reminded me of you. That's how messed up I've been over this."

Now with her back against the door, Jade began blinking repeatedly, trying to fight back tears as she had finally come to grips with everything that she had heard in the last few minutes. "So, this whole week, you've been acting so strange because you're in love with me, or at least because you have a crush on me."

"Yeah, that's pretty much the reason why. It's why I had - Jade, what's wrong?" Right as he was gonna finish his thought, André had noticed Jade beginning to cry, a task that would have been difficult had he not heard a sniffling noise, since there wasn't any trace of makeup running down her face with her tears.

"Nothing's wrong, it's just... I didn't think that there was any other guy who felt that way about me. I mean, my dad doesn't really care about me, and usually when somebody else says the kind of things you did, it's usually coming from somebody like Sinjin or Robbie, or some other desperate nerd who'll take any attention from a girl that they can get. And even though Beck says it sometimes, I have to wonder how much he really means it because of all the attention that he gets from other girls. But hearing you tell me everything that you just told me, it sounds so real, like you really mean it."

"Well, yeah, I do mean it, Jade,"André assured his friend. "I mean, I'm not completely sure that I'm in love with you as much as I say I am, but all of those things that I told you since we've been in here about what and who you are, I was dead serious about all of that."

After wiping away the remainder of her tears, Jade then walked back towards André, then said to him, "again."

"What do you mean, 'again'?" André asked, confused.

"All of the things that you told me that I was, I want you to tell them to me again."

Taking a deep breath just as he had done before the conversation originally began, André then said, "okay. You're smart, you're talented, you're beautiful - "

Just as André was gonna finish repeating his compliments of Jade, she then placed her hands on his face as she went to kiss him. Once they had started locking lips, she then wrapped her arms around his neck, and in return, he moved his hands down her back and briefly gripped her waist, and eventually, he slowly but surely grabbed her butt, and not only did Jade not stop him, but the move had even encouraged her to keep kissing him.

Once they finally separated, Jade then said, "now I know why that Sherry chick wanted to kiss you all the time."

"That's pretty much all she wanted from me," André began in response. "But seriously, why did _you _kiss me just now?"

"Well, when a handsome guy goes around giving compliments, it does things to a girl. I think Trina could vouch for that. But all jokes aside, I do love you too, André. I can't really say that I'm in love with you, and I can't and won't dump Beck to be with you, but I love you just the same. You're a great friend, and a even better guy, and any girl would be lucky to have you, whether it's Tori, Sherry, some other girl, or even if I did end up with you in the future. I just hope that whenever you do find the one, it'll be someone who actually deserves you."

"Thanks Jade. That means a lot, especially coming from you."

"Oh, shut up," Jade said, laughing at the last part of André's sentence. Having looked at her PearPhone, she noticed that they were about five minutes late for class, and because of that, she then told him, "now, maybe we should get to class."

"Yeah, we need to get going," André said in agreement.

As both teens grabbed their backpacks off of the floor, Jade and André both began to walk out of the janitor's closet on the way to Sikowitz's class. But before they left out, Jade remembered a couple of key things that she and André needed to agree on.

"Okay, before we leave out of here, there are two things that we need to establish right now."

"And they are?"

"Well, for one, first and foremost, what just happened here in the janitor's closet, it stays here in the janitor's closet. I don't regret anything that just went down, but I know that you're worried about being looked at as a bad friend, and of course, neither of us wants to have Beck find out and be hurt, angry and upset."

"Okay, that's no problem. What's the second thing?"

"Secondly, the next time you wanna kiss, don't settle for some cheap imitation that Vega tries to do. You come and see me to get the real thing."

"Okay, but how do you know that there's gonna be a next time?"

"How do you know that there won't be one?" Jade then kissed André one last time before leaving for class. As she walked away, André said to himself, "damn, girl," almost just like he and Mr. Vega did when Tori role-played as Jade to help him get over his crush. And with that, he followed Jade en route to Sikowitz's classroom.

**Well, there it goes. My first attempt at an André/Jade fic is now finished. I might have rocked whatever is left of the fandom on the site, or maybe not, but if I did, then oh well. But anyway, now that I'm done with this, I can put my attention back on finishing the "WhizGrunchShower" series and the unnamed sequel to an earlier oneshot, or at least I hope I can. But for now, just let me know what you thought of this. Good night, everybody. I'm out!**


	2. All Grown Up (Part 1)

**Dan and Nick own _Victorious_ (and _iCarly_), and they, along with Mike Tollin, Brian Robbins, Heath Seifert and Kevin Kopelow, own _Good Burger_. The songs that will be quoted later belong to the respective artists, writers and producers who made them. All I own is _Built To Be Bad, Gratification, A Father's Sins And A Daughter's Revenge, The Monster In The Woods, _107 Jams (and 107 Jams Summer Fest), and SaveHut, which you may recognize from some of my other work. **

**As you can see, this is the follow-up to "What Happens After The Next Line", and there are references to the episodes "Prom Wrecker", "Who Did It To Trina?", "Jade Gets Crushed", "The Worst Couple", "The Hambone King" and "Tori Fixes Beck And Jade", among other episodes. Also, be warned that this story starts with a relatively long flashback with the last half of "...Next Line" as the main focus. And there may even be a familiar line or two that you might notice, if you've actually been paying attention to my work.**

**But anyway, without any more stalling, I give you "All Grown Up And Still In Love With You". Enjoy.**

**(Flashback: Hollywood Arts High School, Monday October 10, 2011)**

**It had been five days since he was in the school recording a song with her, and three days **since he and Tori sung "365 Days" at the Friday night concert in the Asphalt Café. Now André and Jade were alone together in the janitor's closet at school, a place where many key conversations had taken place in the past, and now today in the present, the pair was discussing his recent strange behavior, or as he and his friends had called it, acting wonky.

Jade knew about what had led him to ask her to help him record a song, him going to Tori's house later in the night, and she still remembered the next day when he didn't let her listen to the song at school. But what she didn't know, at least not yet, was that she was the cause behind his antics.

_"We were working hard on the song, so I couldn't really think about being scared," André said. "And you were actually being nice for a change, so that helped too."_

_"Well, believe it or not, even I can be nice... sometimes." The pair again began to laugh, before Jade quickly got back to the subject. "But seriously, that still doesn't explain why you've been acting so weird lately."_

_"Well... aside from not being able to think of a chorus, there wasn't any real issue. In fact, once you did the whole hand trick thing, that's kind of where everything started. Then when you sung that part from 'Okay', I was finished."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Once we left here and went home, I couldn't sleep, because I... I couldn't stop thinking about you." As André said this, Jade's eyes had practically shot open. If he didn't have her attention before, which was highly doubtful, then he definitely had it now. "I mean, it even got to the point where I rode my bike to the Vegas' place at 3 in the morning because of that."_

_"Okay, I get that you said that you couldn't sleep because you were thinking about me, but what about me could have possessed you to go talk to Vega at 3AM?" Jade asked, somewhat amused. "I mean, I know I might have the capability to keep people up at night, but it can't be so bad that it causes them to wake other people up from their sleep. So what gives, Harris?"_

_"What gives is that when I went to talk to Tori at 3AM the other night, it was because I had to tell her that I'm in love with you! Don't kill me!" André exclaimed in a panicked tone._

The new piece of information was shocking to Jade, to put it mildly. The Gothic thespian/songstress/writer had been known for having a cold, scary disposition, and she also had developed a dark side that had caused people, especially guys to be afraid of her, a trait that she would eventually admit to liking. But now, because of a rare moment of sweetness, she suddenly became the object of someone else's affection, and that someone else just so happened to be one of her oldest friends.

_"So... you're in love with me?" Jade asked as she walked closer to André, resting her right hand on his left shoulder as the usually upbeat teen now had a hard time even looking her in her face._

_"Yeah, I... I am. And if I'm not in love, then I might seriously have the strongest crush ever known to mankind. It's driving me nuts," André answered._

_"Being in love with me is driving you nuts?"_

_"No, Jade, the simple fact that I'm in love with you isn't what's driving me nuts," André began. "You aren't the problem. I mean, you're smart, beautiful, you're talented. You're strong, you're honest - brutally honest, but you're still honest. And even though you usually act mean, I know that deep down, you're really sweet when you let yourself be that way. I've known it for years, but I really saw it come to light last week when we worked on the song together."_

_Jade briefly smiled at André's compliments, but it faded away quickly when she asked, "so if I'm not the problem, then what, or who is?"_

Even with their personalities being the polar opposite of each other, André and Jade had been best friends for the past three years, and they had stuck by each other through a lot of wild instances. And it would have been easier for him to take the next step and ask her to be his girlfriend if it hadn't been for one thing, or rather one person.

_"You and Beck have been two of my best friends for years. He's like the brother I don't have, and with me even thinking about you romantically, let alone being in love with you, it's like I'm stabbing him in the back a thousand times over, and I feel like shit because of it."_

André had been best friends with Beck even longer (but not much longer) than he had been with Jade, and he had seen their relationship progress - and regress - from the very beginning. And as stated before, he knew having feelings for Jade, and eventually acting on them, was a bad idea mainly for those reasons.

Meanwhile, André went on to explain what happened after his and Jade's long-running studio session and his spur-of-the-moment visit to Tori's place later that night. Along with recording "365 Days", and not playing the song for her in front of Beck and Tori, his newfound love/crush had gotten so deep that what happened later almost infuriated Jade.

_...Jade then asked André, "how did you get Vega to sing the song with you if she knew what it was about?"_

_"Well, believe it or not, Tori actually came up with the idea to sing it at the concert. She even asked if she could sing with me," André began. "It actually came up when I went back to her place the same day that I told you that I would e-mail you the song."_

_"So what happened this time?"_

_"See, she had sent me a text asking me to come over to her house. Then, once she finally came down after I got there, she had actually tried to imitate you, and - "_

_"She did what?" Jade asked in a stern tone._

_"She tried to imitate you. It was like a role-playing exercise, basically," André continued._

_"Okay, what the hell was she doing by trying to imitate me?"_

_"Wait, wait, wait. There wasn't anything bad about it, or at least it wasn't meant to be. See, Tori thought that if she dressed like you and acted like you, it would show me that it wasn't a good idea for me to be in love with you, and that would help me to get over my crush."_

_"Apparently, that didn't do anything to help you either."_

_"Nope. Even with her yelling and trying to insult me, it didn't make me give up my crush," André started. "In fact, at one point, I had even tried to kiss her because it reminded me of you. That's how messed up I've been over this."_

From the second he met her after coming over to help Trina for the showcase, André and Tori were not only best friends, but in the time since then, they were practically inseparable, whether it was from working on songs that they would eventually perform, or just simply hanging out together. It was that bond that allowed him to go to her and tell her about his feelings, and, along with wanting to help André get over his crush, it was also why Tori was willing to go out on a limb and masquerade herself as Jade. André and Tori had developed a strong implied spark amongst themselves, and even without any truly romantic moments, it was hard not to think that they could have had something deeper than friendship if they simply would have realized it on their own.

But when André had tried to kiss Tori while she was "Jade", it served as a possible sign that his feelings for his longer-tenured friend were real. Up to that point, no other girl, including Sherry or Keiko, had drawn that much interest from him, despite the frequent habit of kissing one and his desperation to get to the other. And as close as they had become, not even Tori had been able to evoke that kind of emotion from the musician, at least not as herself.

Back to the present, what André had thought of as an ultimate death wish was actually anything but. In fact, the confession of his feelings had practically nailed the seemingly non-existent soft spot in Jade's heart. And little did he know that it would soon lead to something a bit deeper.

_Now with her back against the door, Jade began blinking repeatedly, trying to fight back tears as she had finally come to grips with everything that she had heard in the last few minutes. "So, this whole week, you've been acting so strange because you're in love with me, or at least because you have a crush on me."_

_"Yeah, that's pretty much the reason why. It's why I had - Jade, what's wrong?" Right as he was gonna finish his thought, André had noticed Jade beginning to cry, a task that would have been difficult had he not heard a sniffling noise, since there wasn't any trace of makeup running down her face with her tears._

_"Nothing's wrong, it's just... I didn't think that there was any other guy who felt that way about me. I mean, my dad doesn't really care about me, and usually when somebody else says the kind of things you did, it's usually coming from somebody like Sinjin or Robbie, or some other desperate nerd who'll take any attention from a girl that they can get. And even though Beck says it sometimes, I have to wonder how much he really means it because of all the attention that he gets from other girls. But hearing you tell me everything that you just told me, it sounds so real, like you really mean it."_

_"Well, yeah, I do mean it, Jade,"André assured his friend. "I mean, I'm not completely sure that I'm in love with you as much as I say I am, but all of those things that I told you since we've been in here about what and who you are, I was dead serious about all of that."_

_After wiping away the remainder of her tears, Jade then walked back towards André, then said to him, "again."_

_"What do you mean, 'again'?" André asked, confused._

_"All of the things that you told me that I was, I want you to tell them to me again."_

_Taking a deep breath just as he had done before the conversation originally began, André then said, "okay. You're smart, you're talented, you're beautiful - "_

_Just as André was gonna finish repeating his compliments of Jade, she then placed her hands on his face as she went to kiss him. Once they had started locking lips, she then wrapped her arms around his neck, and in return, he moved his hands down her back and briefly gripped her waist, and eventually, he slowly but surely grabbed her butt, and not only did Jade not stop him, but the move had even encouraged her to keep kissing him._

Even if it was just for a short time, the kiss was a sign that André and Jade's friendship was now at a deeper point, and even though her feelings weren't as strong as his, she did have a higher value for the dreadlocked teen.

_"...But all jokes aside, I do love you too, André. I can't really say that I'm in love with you, and I can't and won't dump Beck to be with you, but I love you just the same. You're a great friend, and a even better guy, and any girl would be lucky to have you, whether it's Tori, Sherry, some other girl, or even if I did end up with you in the future. I just hope that whenever you do find the one, it'll be someone who actually deserves you."_

_"Thanks Jade. That means a lot, especially coming from you."_

_"Oh, shut up," Jade said, laughing at the last part of André's sentence._

Just before the both of them left to go to Sikowitz's class, André and Jade had both agreed not to speak about the conversation that they just had, or the kiss that resulted from it, mainly for the sake of not hurting or angering Beck. Then, for good measure, Jade decided to remind him of one more important factor.

_"...The next time you wanna kiss, don't settle for some cheap imitation that Vega tries to do. You come and see me to get the real thing."_

_"Okay, but how do you know that there's gonna be a next time?"_

_"How do you know that there won't be one?" Jade then kissed André one last time before leaving for class. As she walked away, André said to himself, "damn, girl," almost just like he and Mr. Vega did when Tori role-played as Jade to help him get over his crush. And with that, he followed Jade en route to Sikowitz's classroom._

Oddly enough, after that day, things somehow went back to normal between the two, almost as if the pair had never kissed in the first place. This held up even as Jade and Beck broke up - again, which was largely due to their constant arguing and fighting, a fact that, ironically, was pointed out by André when he and the rest of the group were at the Vegas' house playing poker one night.

Then, despite going to dinner together at one point, and hearing Tori call him out about his crush when she was trying to come up with a plan for guys to ask out Jade, André still hadn't made a move, supposedly because he was over his infatuation with her. Jade then reconciled with Beck, and André just stuck to music, with the occasional love interest crossing his path every so often. This lasted up to their graduation from Hollywood Arts and into adulthood, and at that point, it seemed as if both scenarios were somewhat permanent. But now, with both of them on the verge of turning 21, life had changed a great deal, and with no spouse or significant other for either one of them to speak of, the reunion that was about to take place may have also been a second chance for the pair to take the step of becoming more than friends.

**(SaveHut, Los Angeles, Saturday afternoon, mid-summer 2015)**

**It was almost 2PM, and the mega-store was practically empty aside from employees and customers shopping **for the normal something-or-others. But nearly a half-hour earlier, the place was also swarming with adoring fans who had came to see various actors and musicians, including André himself, dressed in black-and-white Converses, black cargo shorts and a white T-shirt with the words "Consider Yourself Tomatoed" on the front.

Between his still-rising music career, an appearance in the indie film _Built To Be Bad,_ and an upcoming role in the TV show _Gratification, _he had built a decent following for himself, which led to him to the autograph/meet-and-greet session that was held in preparation for the 107 Hits Summer Fest.

While many of the entertainers had left as soon as the event was over - either because of another appearance on their schedule, or simply wanting to get away from any remaining fans, André had stuck around, signing a few extra autographs and talking with one of the on-air personalities in a private conversation. But just as he was about to leave himself, most likely to go home, a familiar face snuck up on him while he was still inside the store.

"So a guy can't save an autograph for an old friend? Geez, André. What gives?" The young woman asked, but it was in the gruff, raspy voice that she often used whenever she would try to imitate a man.

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't even - "

As soon as André turned around, he saw a smiling Jade standing right in front of him, who was dressed in a light blue tank top, black jeans and black heels. Her eyebrow and nose rings were gone, and while she still had highlights in her otherwise jet-black hair, they were a simple dark brown instead of the bright and bold blue, green, red, purple, pink and blonde streaks that she often wore in their teenage years.

The dreadlocked musician/actor couldn't grab a hold of his friend fast enough, as André embraced Jade in a tight hug, which she more than gladly returned. What he didn't expect, though, was the kiss on the cheek that she gave him just before they let go of each other. But rather than think too hard about the kiss, he simply broke apart from his ex-Goth best friend, and then they went ahead and (finally) said their helloes.

"Hey, Jade," André began. "How've you been?"

""I've been great, but I gotta say that I'm even better now," Jade replied. "It's really good to see you again."

"It's good to see you, too."

"So, I see that you're 'Mr. Superstar' now. You're in here signing autographs and everything," Jade teased.

"Oh, come on, girl. Like nobody's asked to get yours. I saw you on TV a couple of weeks ago, getting all actress-like." André was referring to Jade's lead role in the movie _A Father's Sins And A Daughter's Revenge, _which centered around a young woman coming home to visit her dad who was on the verge of death, and who she believed caused her mother's death years earlier.

"Okay, so I did a TV movie or two lately. Big deal," Jade replied, also referring to _The Monster In The Woods, _which was released nearly a month before. "You've been doing your music, you've been in a movie, and you're gonna be on a TV show soon. That sounds pretty cool to me."

"Yeah, but I know you still sing yourself, and I saw those photoshoots that you've done lately. Who knew that Jade West was the modeling type?"

"Well, even I like taking pictures sometimes," Jade joked. "And apparently, photographers seem to think that I'm pretty."

"You are pretty, Jade," André said with a smile. "Better than pretty, actually."

Having smiled herself, even to the point of blushing (although if anyone asked, she wouldn't admit to it), Jade then looked back up at André and asked, "and what exactly is 'better than pretty'?"

"Uh, let's see," André began. "You're sexy, sultry, stunning, gorgeous, beautiful. Those are a few places to start."

With another smile forming on her face from André's warm-hearted and possibly flirtatious compliments, Jade was ready to move on from the store and spend the afternoon with her friend elsewhere, and she had to assume that he wanted to do the same.

"That was really sweet and nice, and all of that other mushy stuff, but I take it that you had other plans aside from staying here and sweet-talking me all day."

"I actually did plan to go to lunch, now that I think about it," André said. "You wanna go with me?"

"Sure, let's go."

**Later that afternoon, André and Jade were at a nearby restaurant catching up over lunch, **and for the most part, it was almost as if the two were still at Hollywood Arts, as the time spent along with eating was filled with joke-cracking and storytelling, as well as reminiscing over old times. Eventually, though, after talking about future plans, the subject of their friends/former classmates came up.

"So, talk to any of the guys lately?" Jade asked.

"Actually, I did talk to Robbie yesterday," André began in response. "He told me about his new gig that he'll be doing in Vegas. Guy's doing pretty good for himself now."

"Yeah, well, I don't think it matters so much to him about going to Las Vegas. He would do stand-up in Anarctica if it meant that he could bring Cat with him."

"That's true. It's nice to see that she finally gave him a chance."

"Well, for what it's worth, Robbie deserves some credit for not giving up on her. I'm not sure why he didn't just say 'to hell with it', and keep it moving. But I guess that persistence really does pay off. And lucky for him, she dropped the ditzy-five-year-old routine."

"Yeah, Robbie's a good guy and all, but I know that even he had to be sick of seeing Cat act that way. It would have been hard to picture him sticking around too long if she kept going on like that."

"Then again, if he kept chasing after her for all this time, it might not be too much of a stretch."

"That is true. I guess the real thing that's hard to picture, it's been happening for almost the last three years."

"You mean Freddie coming here to go to USC and eventually getting with Trina?" Jade questioned.

"Yeah, that," André replied. "I mean, she is our friend, but I still remember how it was with her when we were younger. Freddie must have the patience of Job or a monk to deal with her."

"Well, for one thing, and to her credit, Freddie's not dealing with the same Trina that we dealt with as kids," Jade said. "And even if he was, apparently, she's not the worst girl he's had to put up with."

"What makes you say that?"

"Apparently, while he was still home in Seattle, he went through a lot of shit when it came to girls, especially when it came to those 'friends' of his."

"Like what, exactly?"

"Well, for starters, that Sam chick treated him like shit practically all of the time, even when they were going out. In fact, he even found out that she had wrecked his application to this place called NERD Camp, but yet, Carly talked him into staying with her because, supposedly, Sam ruined stuff for her too. Then, he kept trying to date her long before that, but she always shot him down and went after some loser, and even when they did go out, he ended up breaking up with her because of some bullshit speech that Sam gave him. Hell, up until the chick bolted for Italy with her dad, he never got another chance with her. She even went out with that asshole Steven, and before they did that sketch on their site, he wanted to kick his ass, but supposedly, he would've gotten pounded silly."

"Wow, that sucks. So much for having them as friends."

"I know, and that's just scratching the surface of everything. Trina almost got into it with Sam once because she wouldn't back off. If you ever talk to him, and he decides to tell you everything, there's a lot more than what I just said."

After a brief silence, André had thought of the figurative elephant in the room, and even though it seemed like a touchy subject, he couldn't see any point in ignoring it further.

"So, how have you been since... the split?"

"You mean me and Beck breaking up? I'm... I'm okay, I guess. It must really not be meant for us to stay together. I mean, it's been a few months, and we haven't really tried again, so, we might really be done this time."

"You seem pretty okay about it," André said.

"Well, it sucked when it happened, and I guess that it still kind of feels bad now, but it might have finally been time for us to move on. I loved the guy, and I guess I still do, but I can't stress over it . Besides, I'm sure he's doing fine without me."

Having talked to Beck in recent weeks, and knowing that he hadn't dealt with any other woman since the breakup, despite still possessing his old charm, André knew that it wasn't that simple. But rather than drag the issue on even further, he simply let it go by saying, "okay, if you say so."

"What I don't get is why you're so concerned over it," Jade replied. "I mean, I know that Beck's your best friend and all, but don't you have your own women to keep you occupied? I know there had to be a few hotties running after you looking to be the future Mrs. Harris."

"I'm not that worried about it. I'm just saying that he might not be dealing with it as easily as you think. I know Beck usually comes off as calm, collected and... emotionless, but it doesn't mean that he actually is that way. And as far as 'meeting the future Mrs. Harris' goes, you're right, I have met a lot of women since we've left Hollywood Arts, but most of them don't really want me. They just like the idea of being with me because they think I'm gonna be some super-rich celebrity. If I'm gonna deal with anybody, I want somebody who actually gives a shit about me as a person. And besides, how do you know that I haven't already met the future Mrs. Harris?"

Knowing that Cat and Trina were out of the picture - and doubting that he had any interest in either one of them in the first place outside of being friends, Jade began thinking that André was talking about either her or Tori. But rather than take the chance of questioning him about it, she decided to leave it alone and ask him about a simpler topic.

"Anyway, what are you gonna be up to in the next few days?" Jade asked.

"Aside from preparing for the show, not a whole lot," André replied. "I don't have to do any press for the show for a couple of weeks, so I'll just be relaxing for the most part."

"Well, what about today?"

"After this, I was just planning to go home. Why?"

"I don't know. I... I was just thinking that maybe we could hang out or something."

"Are you asking me out, Jade West?" André asked in a teasing manner.

"Maybe I am, André Harris," Jade answered. "So, what's it gonna be?"

"Alright then. So where do you wanna go?"

"Well, your place sounds good."

André was thrown off by his friend's suggestion, but he didn't bother saying anything about it. Instead, he simply said "let's go", and with that, he and Jade were off to his home.

**So, that's one chapter in the books. A chapter that might look like I just threw it together without any real thought, but anyway. As you can see, our favorite ex-Goth and dreadlocked musician are still pretty tight, and they may have picked up on the other person's feelings for themselves. And if nothing else, you might have noticed a "new" pairing or two that came about. In the next chapter, André and Jade are gonna truly resolve everything, and there's gonna be at least a song or two to go with it. But until then, be good, take care of yourself and each other, and if nothing else, don't tell anybody, especially Kurt, what's in Ed's sauce. Later, y'all.**


	3. All Grown Up (Part 2)

**Not too long after they had left the restaurant, André and Jade would eventually arrive at his apartment. While it looked like **a normal bachelor pad on the surface - with a large flat-screen and entertainment center, the usual couch-and-love-seat setup, and his guitar and keyboard along with a drum machine, among other things, there were also various pictures and posters around the living room, which most notably included those of himself with his family, as well as pictures with Jade and the rest of the gang.

"You have a cool place, André," Jade said as she walked further into the apartment.

"Thanks," André replied.

"So, this must be where all the Harris magic happens."

"If by 'Harris magic', you mean where I rest after I get back in town, then yeah, there's plenty of that."

"Oh, come on, dude. You really mean to tell me that in the whole time that you've been here, there hasn't been any fun courtesy of the opposite sex?"

"I didn't say that, Jade. I mean, yeah, there's been a woman or two that's come by, but it's not like this place is some crazy sex dungeon or something. I don't just run through females left and right."

"Alright, if you say so." Eventually, as Jade looked through the pictures, she saw the one of her and André together the night that they were in the recording studio at Hollywood Arts. He didn't see it right at that second, but her smile at that moment was almost like it was when the two of them had hugged after he and Tori finished performing "365 Days". The remembrance of everything that happened up to that point and after that, particularly the conversation in the janitor's closet the following Monday, kept the smile on Jade's face, and it also caused a sudden heat to rush through her body. As she continued to look at the picture, she was then struck with an interesting thought that, to her, would help to explain his relationship experience, or lack thereof, since they left their alma mater.

_"I wonder if André is still in love with me. Could that be why he never had a lot of girls around, because he was waiting on a chance with me? Why didn't he say anything if that's the case?"_

Meanwhile, André had walked over to Jade with a cup of coffee in his hand, and as he gave it to her, the already present good mood that she was in seemed even brighter.

"Are you planning something, André?" Jade asked in a teasing manner.

"Nope, I'm just a guy who knows his friends well," André replied. "I figured that you might have wanted this, so I went ahead and made some. Was I wrong?"

"Actually, no. I still have a blood type of coffee-positive, so this always works. But I will say that every so often, I do like to try different varieties. That is one thing that's different from when we were younger."

"Well, that's good to know. But just for good measure, I made yours the old-fashioned, Jade West way. Black with two sugars."

"You do know your friends well, after all."

"Told you," André said jokingly.

"Don't rub it in," Jade replied in the same manner. "So, uh... how's your family?"

"My parents are good. And my grandma, well, she's still her, so she's okay, I guess. What about _your _folks?"

"Well, my dad's still... my dad. Even with everything I've done since we've left Hollywood Arts, especially this year, he still wants to be the cynical jerk. As for my mom and my brother, they're okay."

"Got it. So, you decided to take a look at all of the old pics?" André asked.

"Yeah. Just seeing all of this, it kind of makes me miss all of the stuff we got ourselves into," Jade said.

"Yeah, we went through a lot back then, good and bad. Like, uh, remember that game show we went on that one time?"

"Oh yeah, _Brain Squeezers. _That was horrible. We all ended up getting 'doinked' or whatever the hell it was called."

"Yeah, that was bad. Basically all of that stuff that they did was way overboard, like when Beck got gut-whacked, or... or when you..."

"When I got bashed in the head with the car battery."

"Yeah, that."

"I hated that so bad. I'm surprised that I wasn't dead or turned into a vegetable from that."

"I know. That was seriously a miracle if there ever was one," André began. "Besides, the fact that you were able to walk away from that let you do all other kinds of amazing stuff... like go on a kids' show dressed as a giant piece of cheese."

"Oh crap, you know about that?" Jade asked, remembering her, Tori and Trina's appearance on _Divertisimo._

"Yeah, I saw it as soon as I got home from the studio at school," André replied with a laugh.

"Good Lord, that was so embarrassing."

"Maybe, but at least you guys got some TV time for that whole 'say yes to everything' bet. All I got was stuck listening to bad country music, drinking tomato juice and smelling nasty feet."

"Oh yeah, you got stuck working with Posey. That had to be fun."

"If by 'fun', you mean incredibly painful and torturous, then yeah, it was fun alright."

After wrapping up the brief discussion, André and Jade walked over to the couch. While he simply sat down in the middle, she sat down to his right after putting the cup of coffee on the nearby table. But then, for whatever reason, Jade decided to lay back and rest her legs across André's lap. Of course, this would get a reaction from him.

"So, is there any reason why you suddenly decided to lay on my couch with your legs in my lap?" André asked in a half-serious, half-joking manner.

"What? A woman can't relax with her legs in her best friend's lap if she wants to?" Jade asked with a partial smile.

"Yeah, she can, but since when are you the cuddly type?"

"Since now. Is that a good enough answer?"

"Sure. But tell me something."

"What's up?" Jade asked.

"I know that maybe you aren't ready to get into anything serious because... because of what happened with you and Beck," André began. "But aside from that, I gotta ask, how is it that there's not anybody in the picture for you? I mean, I know you were joking around about me having a bunch of women earlier, but you're the true catch between the two of us, and if I had to guess, there's plenty of guys lining up for the chance to be the future Mr. 'ScissorLuv'."

"Wow, way to bring up old screen names," Jade began humorously, referring to her old username on TheSlap. "But seriously, for one thing, a lot of guys are just interested in banging a potential celebrity, or just banging me period. Like you said about the females that you ran into, they're not into me, they're into what they think I'll become. Then, in the rare event that I came across a guy who was worth having, I couldn't get to them because, more often than not, another woman got there first. Like Freddie, for example. If he wasn't with Trina, I could seriously see myself going after him. How Trina was even able to get him, I can't understand, because he shouldn't have been able to leave Seattle as a single man."

"Well, you did say Carly and Sam were pretty janky towards him," André replied. "And now that I think of it, he did say something about how most other girls there had shot him down too. You know, aside from a twin, a cousin and some webshow groupies."

The girls André referred to were Sam's twin sister Melanie, who couldn't convince Freddie to date her despite her avid crush, because he thought that it was just Sam playing another trick on him; and Sabrina, a cousin of Gibby's, was also interested in Freddie, and after talking over video chat several times, the pair appeared to hit it off. But things changed drastically when they met personally during the heatwave-preceded blackout that left Bushwell Plaza powerless except for the Shays' place, the match fell apart quickly, as he felt that she was too tall for him - although he didn't say it outright, and any feelings she may have had for him practically disappeared when she was squirted in the eye with a lemon that was going in her glass of tea, which caused her to accidentally crush Carly's school project.

Then of course, there were the avid "iCarly" fangirls who ambushed Freddie at Webicon, possibly because of physical attraction, and obviously because of him being on the webshow.

Meanwhile, back at André's, Jade responded with, "then, aside from me, Trina, a twin, a cousin and some webshow groupies, most other girls are dumbasses. But back to my point, Freddie has Trina, and now, apparently, Robbie is with Cat. I know we all gave him shit a lot of the time when we were younger, and we always thought that he was weird or crazy, but deep down, he's a great guy. I truly hope Cat knows what she has now, because most guys wouldn't have been so patient like he was with her."

"That is true. So basically, you're still by yourself because you come across losers, and whenever you come across a good guy, they're already taken."

"Yeah, that's it for the most part. But then..."

"But then what?"

"There's another guy that I know, that I've known for quite some time actually. And he's really handsome, he's smart, and he's really talented. Not only that, but he's really caring and he's always around when people need him, even if it means something bad comes from it. For the most part, he's just a really great person."

"So, have you told this guy any of this stuff that you just told me?" André asked, not yet realizing who Jade was referring to.

"I did say it once, but it was a while ago," Jade began, remembering what she told André just before they left the janitor's closet, and before she kissed him a second time. "And ever since then, I saw him try his luck with other girls, one of whom was pretty janky. And then there's this other woman that he's always around, and it's been that way ever since they met. I've even wondered sometimes why, even after all this time, they never made it past the 'just friends' stage, because she really trusts him just like I do, and he's been really good to her."

"And is that the only issue?"

"Well, I heard once that he was into me, but that was around the same time that I told him all the things that I just said to you. And I'm worried that maybe he doesn't feel the same way anymore. That maybe he gave up on what he felt for me, and that he just decided to play the field until he finally came across 'the one'."

Putting deeper thought into everything that he had just heard, André then asked, "uh, Jade, this guy that you've been talking about, is it me?"

"Well... yeah, it is you, André," Jade replied.

"So, are... are you in love with me, or is it -"

"I really think I'm in love. But I never said anything before because I didn't want to approach you without knowing if I was really over Beck. I'm really into you, not just because we could be boyfriend and girlfriend, but because we're best friends, and I don't wanna see anything or anyone hurt you, especially if it's me."

"I get that. I'm not scared of him, but I still can't help but think that maybe if we were together, he might feel betrayed by it. But you really thought that I was with Tori?"

"Well, yeah, but seriously, can you blame me for that?" Jade asked. "I know how tight you two have been since you first met each other, and even now, it's hard not to think that you might have something going on with her."

"Look, you do have a point," André began. "Me and Tori, we are still pretty close, and I will admit that there's been a few times that we really saw how close we actually were, to put it mildly. But if we were supposed to actually be together, it would have been happened by now. It wouldn't be possible to deal with any other woman in a romantic way, especially you, if I was supposed to have anything deeper with Tori."

"Okay, but what about your feelings for me? Are you really in love with me? Were you ever? Did you even have a crush on me, or were you just using an excuse to kiss me?"

"Are you... Are you fucking kidding me right now?" André began, upset with Jade's sudden accusation. "You really wanna sit here and basically ask me if I was using you, or if I would ever use you of all people? We've been best friends for the past seven years, and when I said that I was in love with you, I wasn't joking, Jade. If there's one person that I would never use, it would be you, and you should know that!"

"Okay, then how do you explain that whole situation where you and Tori thought that you needed to pay somebody to ask me out?" Jade asked, remembering André and Tori's plan to pay guys to ask her out so that Beck could date Meredith. "If you were really in love with me, or if you really had a crush on me like you said, then why didn't you ask me out like a man instead of pulling that bullshit?"

"It's not an excuse, and I'm not throwing her under the bus, but for starters, it wasn't my idea for anybody to ask you out. Tori had actually come to me because she wanted Beck to be able to ask out Meredith without being afraid of you, or what you might think. She even said something about me having a crush on you. Now, as for me not asking you out myself, it's 'cause I made the mistake of thinking that I was over you. Then not only that, I kept telling her that the plan was a bad idea to begin with. I even joked around and said that I should ask out Meredith, and that Beck could have just went and bought himself a hamster or something."

"So then why did you fix your mouth to say that the only way someone would ask me out is if you paid them?"

"Because... every guy was scared as hell of you back then. It was hard enough for me to tell you how I felt that day in the janitor's closet, and I've known you since freshman year, and I actually know what it's like when you weren't... mean and vicious. So, if I had that problem, just think about how it might have been for the rest of the guys at school who knew who you were, but didn't know you like me, Beck and Robbie did. I was serious when I said that I loved you, and I meant what I said about you once we got into the janitor's closet and before we left out of there. I even meant what I just said a few minutes ago. But I was also serious when I said that you scared everybody. It wasn't just Gilbert that ran off when he tried to ask you out, but hell, Braden was too scared to even ask you if he could have his history notes back. Look, I know that deep down, you aren't really just this mean, bitter person, but for so long, that's how you came off, and it drove people away. And even though you said that you liked people to be scared of you, you couldn't possibly mean that. It's just another wall you built up for yourself because of whoever hurt you, whether it's your dad, Beck, or whoever did something wrong to you in the past."

A powerful and awkward silence found its way through after André finished his thought, and in the same stretch of time, Jade had sat back upright and finished what was left of her coffee. To break the quiet spell, André began to speak up first.

"Listen, Jade, I didn't - "

"Wait, André, if you're trying to apologize, you don't have to," Jade began. "If anybody should apologize, then it's me. I shouldn't have accused you of using me, or trying to use me. Like you said, I should know you better than that after all these years."

"No, I get it. I know that you're worried and concerned, and as far as relationships go, you don't wanna just jump into anything."

"I am sorry, you know, about what I said. But if you still felt like you did, you could have just talked to me."

"Could I have? I mean, when we were still at Hollywood Arts, after what happened that day in the janitor's closet, I wasn't sure whether or not my feelings were gonna last," André began. "Besides that, you and Beck were still together, and even after you broke up, there's a few other reasons why I didn't take any chance on you."

"And what might those be?" Jade asked.

"Besides Beck being my best friend and me still being worried about betraying him? For one thing, I ended up with Hope, and I was going after Elise. You know, the girl I could have had if you didn't bring up that 'Hammer Time' bet when I was talking to her."

"You seriously remember that?" Jade asked with a laugh.

"Who could forget it? That was cock-blocking on a whole new level."

"Okay, maybe it was. But seriously, what's the last reason?"

"For a while after we kissed, even though I wasn't completely sure if I was actually in love with you, I still did have a crush on you. And even with me worrying about Beck, I can admit that I still thought about making a move and asking you out after you two broke up."

"Okay, so what stopped you? I mean, I might have given the impression that I didn't wanna be bothered with any guy, but I could have made an exception for you. So what gives, Harris?"

"Well... this sounds stupid, but I remember you saying that even though you loved me, you couldn't say for sure that you were in love with me. I didn't wanna be the rebound guy, and I didn't want to ask you out if you didn't feel like I did. It wouldn't have worked if we didn't feel the same way about each other."

"Okay, that was three, almost four years ago," Jade began. "Even if that would have been the case back then, we're talking about now. You know I love you, and that I'm in love with you. And unless I'm wrong, don't you feel the same way about me?"

"Yeah, I do," André said. "I do love you, and I'm in love with you too."

"Okay then. So instead of letting the past get in the way, this can be our chance to start over. We don't have to worry about anybody else from here on out. Not Beck, not Tori, not anybody that we might have been with ever since we've been adults. It's not as easy as I just made it sound, but if you trust me as much as I trust you, then we can make it work. I know what I want out of this. Now it's just a matter of whether or not you want the same thing."

With both him and Jade having made their feelings and thoughts known, André had a potential new girlfriend in one of his oldest friends, and all that was left now was for him to take that last step to make it official. So when he finally made eye contact with her again, he didn't hesitate to take the chance that he wished he would have taken back when they were still at Hollywood Arts, and within seconds, he went in to kiss her, which she gladly accepted and returned.

_"...Maybe I'm wrong/ won't you tell me if I'm coming on too strong?/ This heart of mine has been hurt before/ this time I wanna be sure."_

_"I've been waiting for a girl like you/ to come into my life/ I've been waiting for a girl like you/ and a love that will survive..."_

"So, this is what it's like to kiss Jade West when she's your girlfriend," André said once he and Jade broke apart from each other.

"Yeah, lucky you," Jade began jokingly. "But was this as good as what happened in the janitor's closet?"

"It's actually better. For one thing, we don't have to get to Sikowitz's class. And more importantly, we don't have to worry about hurting or betraying somebody."

"No, we don't." Jade then went to kiss André again, but this time as she did so, she got up and climbed into his lap, not that he necessarily minded.

"Well, somebody's ambitious," André said after he and Jade separated.

"Can you blame me? I don't know about you, but I wanna make the most of this second chance of ours," Jade replied. "Besides, are you really trying to act as if you don't enjoy all of this in your lap?"

"I do enjoy it, I admit that. So what happens now, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Well, if you're up for the task, I can show you what the good kind of torture feels like," Jade said with a mischievous smile.

"I think I'm getting an idea why that little kid called you 'the freaky one'," André said, remembering the kid from the Handi-Quick who they ended up having to invite to the private Ke$ha concert at Tori's house.

"Oh, trust me, you'll find out why he called me that in ways that he couldn't even imagine. So, if you don't mind, could you show me to your room?"

"As you wish." And with that, André took Jade by the hand once she stood up from his lap and took her to his room. He never imagined that he would have this chance with her, even after they kissed twice after their conversation in the janitor's closet. Or rather, he didn't expect that he would actually be able to go through with whatever was about to happen. Still, it was gonna happen, and if he or she had any (other) question why it hadn't happened before, they were simply choosing to talk about it later, if at all. For now, however, they were about to take the next step in their friendship and new relationship. And for Jade, and especially André, it was more than worth it.

_"(I'm not lying!) I just wanna be Alone With You/ and there's nothing else I'd rather do (there's nothing else I'd rather do)/ I just want the chance I had again (you know, you know, you know)/ just us two, 'til the end..."_

**And that's it. Everybody's favorite dreadlocked musician and scissor-loving ex-Goth are together now. If this chapter seems way off to anybody, then I don't blame you, because this ended a lot differently than even I anticipated. But anyway, hopefully you enjoyed this fic, regardless of the route that it went. Good night, everybody... or good morning now, since it's after 6AM. Peace!**

**(Songs included in this chapter: "Waiting For A Girl Like You" by Foreigner, and "Alone With You" by Tevin Campbell. Both songs are property of the respective performers, writers, producers and labels/publishers. No copyright infringement is intended.)**


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